WASHINGTON – Turns out it really does take a rocket scientist to beat Watson, the "Jeopardy"-winning computer.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey — a five-time champion during the trivia show's original run 35 years ago — topped the IBM computer Monday night in a "Jeopardy"-style match of congressmen vs. machine held at a Washington hotel.

Though Holt isn't the first human to beat Watson, the victory adds to the 62-year-old Democrat's already-impressive resume: a former State Department arms control expert and ex-leader of the federal Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.